Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2001/10/01/six_men_of_dartmouth_mourned.php
Monday, October 1, 2001
'I know something bad is happening,' said Juan Cisneros '99 to his girlfriend on the 104th floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center on September 11. 'I wanted you to know how much I love you and tell my parents I love them and I love my sister.' Cisneros phone call to his girlfriend was his last communication to the outside world as, minutes later the building he was in collapsed floor by floor to the ground. Cisneros is among six men of Dartmouth who died in the terrorist attacks on New York City.
Four Dartmouth alumni, including Cisneros, were lost in the north tower in the offices of Cantor Fitzgerald. The bond-trading firm had offices on floors 101 and 103 to 105, just above where American Airlines Flight 11 struck the building.
Cisneros was the youngest of the five. He worked as a trader for Cantor to help pay off his college loans and lay the groundwork for a future in medicine or government. A Guatemalan by birth, Cisneros immigrated to the US at the age of four and attended high school at Orange Glen High School in Escondido, California. He was planning to get married next year. Many who met Cisneros remarked on his warmth and insight.
Also on the 104th floor was Jeffrey E. LeVeen '68, a Partner and Senior Vice President of Equity Sales at Cantor. At Dartmouth LeVeen served as a social chair of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and as captain of the golf team.. LeVeen also spent two years as a specialist in the military before moving into the financial industry.
Christopher M. Colasanti '90 was lost on the 105th floor in the Cantor Fitzgerald offices. A resident of Hoboken, NJ, Colasanti was on the side of the building that was first struck by the plane. 'He really loved Dartmouth so much and he made so many incredible friends there and they've really come out for me and my daughters,' said his wife Kelly in a telephone interview. 'He really had a sense of fun that Dartmouth life suited him.' Colasanti is characterized in an article by the Newark Star-Ledger as the kind of man who loved his children, married his high school sweetheart, made time for his friends and cheered for lousy sport teams root for the underdog. His best friend from Dartmouth, John Lynch, said of him,'We got along because we ripped each other so well. There wasn't anything about each other we wouldn't make fun of. He was just someone you looked forward to having around for a long time.'
Brian P. Dale '80 was on the American Airlines flight that struck the north tower at 8:48 AM. Dale helped found Blue Capital Management, a venture capital firm, after a highly successful career at Dartmouth. He served as a popular president of the Harold Parmington Foundation fraternity (dissolved in 1990), graduated magna cum laude as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and soon thereafter earned an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business in 1981. While an undergraduate, Dale played football and acquired the moniker 'Hulk' for his size.
Dale was not supposed to be on Flight 11. His plan was to leave a day earlier on a flight from Denver to LA, but weather delays made this impossible and he remained in Boston for an extra day. His wife wasn't even aware of his change in plans, and thought he was safe on September 11. His brother, Kevin, remarked in the Boston Herald, 'That kind of randomness is a little difficult to reconcile. The family is holding up and moving ahead. We're just totally shocked that this happened—the randomness of it all and the deliberate murder of these people.'
Richard H. Woodwell '79 served as a senior vice president of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a financial firm with offices on the 89th and 88th floors of the south tower — areas destroyed immediately when the second aircraft struck. Woodwell 'never left his post' on the 89th floor after the first tower was hit, according to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Instead, he stayed back with several men who were trying to get calls through to their families. Woodwell was born in Pittsburgh, attended the Avon School in Connecticut, and then received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth. After graduating, Woodwell moved to San Francisco and began a career as a floor broker for Dean Witter. He moved to Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ and joined Keefe Bruyette, where worked for 13 years.
Also lost in the attack was Kevin R. Crotty '80 of Summit, NJ. Crotty was the managing director of Sandler O'Neill and Partners. The financial firm specialized in bank stocks and had offices on the 104th floor of the south tower, about 10 to 15 floors above the area of impact. At Dartmouth, Crotty was an exceptional athlete. He considered playing basketball professionally in Europe.
After graduating cum laude with a major in economics, Crotty became one of the youngest traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for Lehman Brothers. Nonetheless, Crotty's real priority was his family. Several days before the attack, Crotty saw his son Kyle begin playing soccer. 'Kyle scored his first goal on Sunday (before the attack),' said Lori Crotty to the Newark Star-Ledger, 'and Kevin had the biggest smile on his face. I'm so happy that he got to see that.'
All of those lost leave behind family. Juan Cisneros leaves behind his parents and his younger sister, Ana. Jeff LeVeen leaves behind his wife Christine and five children, Jeff Jr., Betsy, Andrew, Katie and Meg. Chris Colasanti leaves behind his wife and two daughters, Cara and Lauren. Brian Dale leaves behind his wife, Louanne, three young children, Jacob, twins Rachel and Russell and two siblings, Kevin and Lauren Richard Woodwell leaves behind his wife Linda, three children, Richard Jr., Margaret and Eleanor. Kevin Crotty leaves behind his wife, Lori, and three children, Megan, Kyle and Sean.
'My kids are the saddest part of this. They're not going to know their dad, who was a great guy,' said Louanne Baily, Dale's wife.
Dartmouth mourns the loss of these families and those of the other victims.